This invention relates to fairlead assemblies for mounting to an off-road vehicle and, more particularly, to fairlead assemblies particularly suited for guiding fibre-optic communication cable to an entrenching shank mounted to the vehicle.
It is well known that fibre-optic cable is an exemplary audio communication medium. Customarily, the fibre-optic cable is submerged beneath the ground with the air of off-road vehicle such as a crawler tractor. The crawler tractor rotatably supports a reel of fibre-optic cable forwardly of the vehicle. The cable is threaded from the reel to a fairlead assembly mounted atop the tractor's operator's station, therefrom, the cable is threaded through a shank adjustably mounted to the rear of the tractor. It is known to have mounted a second fairlead assembly on the shank for directing the fibre-optic cable to a cable feed tube intergral to the shank. The shank trenches the ground at a prescribed depth and lays the fibre-optic cable therein.
Fibre-optic cable is very sensitive to bend angles. An excess bend angle can cause a fracture in the cable filament. Therefore, during the trenching operation, it is of paramount importance to maintain the cable bend within prescribed limits.